GUNDELLA SAYS

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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Witch Watch: Your ears ringing? You're the topic of talk

from the Farmington Observer July 22, 1976

Another blurry entry into the "Witch Watch" ouerve but I guess marred is better than obscured and lost forever. These were reader's responses to a column on superstitions that Gundella had previously done and quite a few of them are ones that I had never heard of before.

As with most superstitions a few of these are quite spurious at best! The drying your hands together superstition is one that doesn't apply to me since my daughter and I always dry our hands together and never quarrel. Of course, she's only 3 and is always right and will forevermore be, so what's to quarrel about?

As for the strangest remedy to a superstition it has to be the one where two people who have been impeded by an inanimate object which separates them while walking can avoid a quarrel by uttering the stated phrase "bread and butter, hit each other". I'm guessing that the rhyme scheme accounts for the non sequitur although bread and butter's kinship might be suggestive of the similar relationship between the two persons involved. Maybe I'm getting a little too carried away trying to give this some deeper reason or explanation.

As for the ringing in the ears means that somebody is talking about you: I'm not sure if it also applies to burning as well but I'll be sure to try the listing of friends' names the next time it occurs. Damn gossipers!